Salvation Army needs volunteers MAY 5 - MAY 11, 2023
Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive set for May 13
VOLUME 4 ISSUE 18
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Hot off the presses!
With Greg Thompson in charge of a crack cast and team, OCT’s ‘Newsies’ is sure to make headlines. Photos By Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette
The annual National Association of Letter Carriers’ food donation campaign will help people in Ocala/Marion County. Cast member during a dress rehearsal of Newsies at the Ocala Civic Theatre in Ocala on Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Empty shelves for food are shown in a food distribution area at the Interfaith Emergency Services Reuben Brawner Food Distribution Center in Ocala on Monday, May 1, 2023. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2023.
By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamedico.com
I
t’s time again for the annual National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, which will take place nationwide on May 13. Local donations will stay in Marion County to help individuals and families. Tim Legge, a retired mail carrier, heads up the drive locally, along with Karla Greenway, executive director of Interfaith Emergency Services (IES). This year’s food drive will be the 31st for Ocala/Marion County. “Yes, this old retired guy is hanging in there and volunteering on behalf of the union,” Legge said. “The need is great. Just last week I was at the Interfaith warehouse and talked with a young woman who had a young son. They had spent the night at a hotel and didn’t know where they were going to be that night.” Legge said that this year plastic bags for the local drive were sponsored by the Accent Insurance Group. “We will have 125,000 bags going out just before the drive. It really helps when we are able to provide those. We are grateful to Accent. It’s great to have a partner like that,” Legge said. “We’ll also be sending out postcards as a reminder of how people can help.” On May 13, donors can put donations of food into their mailbox, or place the items very close by, for pickup by a mail carrier. Donations also may be made in the lobbies of post office branches leading up to May 13. IES, which was formed in 1983, helps approximately 30,000 people annually. Clients range from those who may be experiencing homelessness, to senior citizens and veterans, and people with disabilities or who See Food, page A2
By Julie Garisto julie@magnoliamediaco.com
W
ith all the entertainment that’s fit to print, “Newsies” opens this weekend at Ocala Civic Theatre (OCT) and is sure to be a smash hit. OCT’s season finale brings the theater well into the 21st century with the requisite wow factor to get savvy theatergoers to come back next season.
Stylish aesthetics meets detailed stage tech, and timeless relevance, altogether exceeding our expectations. And if you haven’t heard, the theater’s stage now sports a ceiling-tall high-tech screen projection used to create vivid and super-realistic backdrops. Closeup montages of front pages recall a trope of old Hollywood movies fading into a street scene that will make you feel transported to the late 1800s. The projections, along with movable scaffolding, a replication of
an iron gate, a crystal chandelier and other trappings show off Tyler Stentiford’s flair for scenic design. Both the production team and this crack cast of young folks are newsworthy. Three choreographers contributed their razzledazzle and gymnastic flair to shepherding the dance numbers: Maycee Dominguez, profiled last year in the “Gazette,” along with Brooke Loftis and Debbie McCreight, lent their talents, and the kids come See Newsies, page A2
The Florida connection behind Kentucky Derby favorite Forte’s success By Michael Compton Correspondent
A
s the countdown to Saturday’s 149th Kentucky Derby (G1) intensifies, all eyes are on the early favorite Forte, last year’s 2-Year-Old Eclipse Champion and winner of this year’s Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park. While he was bred and sold in Kentucky, Forte received his early training foundation in Ocala at the O’Farrell family’s legendary Ocala Stud Farm. Owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable, and trained by Todd Pletcher, a two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer who has family in Ocala, Forte was one of 165 youngsters that Ocala Stud broke and trained last year. According to David O’Farrell, Forte, who is the morning-line favorite at odds of 3-1, was a standout from
the very start. “He was extremely forward,” O’Farrell said. “When we got our group of yearlings in, he was one that was identified early on as being athletic and very forward, and he just progressed from there. He was the first 2-year-old to ship off the farm to go to the races. He was breezing a half-mile in March of his 2-year-old year. He was so forward, just blowing away everything else. He stuck out like a sore thumb early. “Forte was very eager to train,” O’Farrell continued. “He never had a bad day, always full of energy, but always well within himself. We never anticipated that he would go on to become a Derby favorite, or even a great 3-year-old. We thought he was going to be a really good 2-year-old. You hope that they can continue on, but he was always very professional. You never really know, but he gave
us every indication he could a good one.” Good horses come from anywhere, as Forte’s success suggests. Acquired by his owners for the relatively modest sum of $110,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Sale, Forte, according to O’Farrell, was one of 43 yearlings bought by the partnership that year,
spending just over $16 million. With any luck on the First Saturday in May, Ocala Stud can add to its illustrious history. With a trio of notable Kentucky Derby wins by training graduates Street Sense in 2007, Florida-bred Unbridled in 1990, and Florida-bred Carry Back in 1961, Forte is in a prime See Derby, page A2
David, Michael and Joe O’Farrell, left to right, pose for a photo on the track at Ocala Stud Farm in Ocala on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2023.
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Animal Control Services............. A5 Cartoons......................................... A6 Freedom Fund and Awards Banquet.. A8 Calendar......................................... B5 Sports.............................................. B9
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